


The Oasis

by CyclonicJet



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 03:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20057416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyclonicJet/pseuds/CyclonicJet
Summary: I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any feedback please feel free to share! I'm always looking to improve and see what works well!





	The Oasis

Taliyah dipped her feet into the warm oasis water. A cool soothing relief enveloped the tired extremities, and swiftly spread up her legs as well. After a long day spent in boots, traversing the endless dunes of great Shurima, this is exactly what she needed. She loved the desert and its stone, but it tended not to treat a girls feet with any great kindness or love. From deep within her came a long relaxed sigh, clearing out the musty desert air from her lungs.

She leaned back and planted her hands behind her, digging them into the fine sand, burying them beneath the scorching upper layer, and into the cooler granules below. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax. She began absentmindedly swishing her feet back and forth through the calm spring water.

Far above, the merciless midday sun beat down upon the dunes. Everywhere its light fell, the earth baked. Wafting off the sands came a shimmering haze, a veritable ocean of thermals hovering just above the world. But in the oasis itself the air was cool. The breath of life it provided, the very plants themselves, served to shield the small haven from the blazing heat surrounding it.

Taliyah gazed out towards the far horizon across the pond, watching the air dance. She finally had a moment to reflect. Much had changed since last she has passed through here. The ancient magic of Shurima was awakening. The land itself transforming little by little with each new passing day. Where once only barren earth had lain scorched, rivers now flowed.

The desert was returning to life. Oasis like these were popping up everywhere, and each new sunrise saw more and more people flocking to the reborn desert. But nowhere did they journey more hastily, or in greater numbers, then towards the heart of Shurima itself. Towards the great risen Sun Disc. And Taliyah counted herself amongst that great flock.

Unlike the many others though, she cared not for Azir and his reborn empire. Nor did she care for those who now sought riches from the new found bounties that had sprung up overnight, and with which the desert now offered freely. No. All Taliyah cared to learn was the fate of her tribe. She needed to know that her family was safe. She had been away for so long, too long. Now she knew not where they were, and it was up to her to find them.

* * *

_ Thud. _ Taliyah’s perked up her ears. _ Thud. _ It sounded like something heavy hitting the ground. _ Thud. _ It was close. Taliyah reached out with her senses and felt the earth around her. Through the stone she could feel the reverberations of something approaching her. _ Thud. _ It sounded like the weighted footfall of a giant. _ Thud. _She turned around and tried to identify the source, but could see nothing in any direction. Only the empty dunes answered her gaze.

She turned back to stare across the tranquil waters of the oasis. A figure now stood on the opposite shore. A slight twinge of fear gripped at her. How had they managed to sneak up on her like that!? She could have sworn there was no one there a moment ago. “Hello?” she asked somewhat awkwardly. She worked hard to bury her fear of this new stranger deep down inside her. 

The stranger didn’t respond to her. They bore a long cloak, drawn long across there face, its long shawls serving to cover the whole of their body. They were masked well by it, buried so deep within its folds she could not perceive the strangers identity. The wind whipped and tugged at the garment, as though it seemed to want to drag it from the stranger entirety. Whoever they were though, they were tall. A veritable mountain of a person, they would have towered over any ordinary man. This was clearly no average desert wanderer.

“Are...are you alright there sir? Ma'am?” she prodded. They remained profoundly silent, stoic even. Taliyah briefly fancied that she glimpsed the glare of two great eyes staring at her, gleaming from within the dark folds of the hood. After a short while she began to shift uneasily under the strangers presence. A certain aura of dread seemed to emanate from them, like a long cast shadow that chilled all it touched.

“I am searching for someone.” he said at length. The strangers voice grinded the air like gravel. It sounded strangely akin to the deep rasping breath of a reptile. An especially large reptile at that.

“Who are you searching for?” she asked.

He was silent for a moment. His head dipped down to stare at the shifting sands lapping at his feet. “A man that I once called brother.”

Taliyah waited a beat, waiting to see if he might divulge anything more. But it soon became clear that he had become lost in a world of memories, Taliyah herself all but practically forgotten to him. “I’m sorry.” Taliyah said nudging him back to reality. “Is he lost?”

He shifted his head. “No...but I fear that I might be.”

“You’re lost as well then?” she said. “Maybe I can guide you where you need to go? I know these sands pretty well.”

“...it is not a lost of a kind you would understand desert child.” he breathed mournfully. “My home is gone. Long swallowed by the desert. What family I have left abandoned me long ago to an accursed existence...and I fear too that this brief respite from madness will be all too shortly enjoyed too. Soon this lucidity will pass, and the bloodlust will return.”

Taliyah wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she offered.

“There is no one who can help me now…” he murmured. “But could I ask-“ He tilted his head back up. “-would you talk with me awhile?” He asked haltingly. “I wish to enjoy what precious moments of sanity that I may.”

“Ummm. Sure.” Taliyah said still unsure of what to say. “What would you like to talk about?”

He paused. “I am unsure.” he said. The sound of groaning muscles filled the air as he leant down and knelt beside the water. He tilted his head down to stare into the pool. “It has been so long since I last conversed with another. I fear I have quite forgotten how to do so.” 

“Well, is there anything you want to know? I can offer you what things that I have learnt on my journey.”

He held his tongue for a moment. “Tell me about you, child of Shurima. What is your tale in the tapestry of this world?”

“Me?” she said. “Well I’m afraid there isn’t a lot to say really. I was born and raised a shepherd. I left home some months ago now on a journey all my own. I have experienced many hardships in my travels, but have also made many new friends and have learnt a great deal. And now, like a bird long away from the nest, I am returning home once more. Like I say, my life is not all that long as yet, so the tale is short and brief in its telling.”

“I believe you sell yourself short, shepherds daughter.” Though she could not see his eyes clearly, she could tell that behind the cowl they were scrutinising her intently. “Tell me, why did you decide to leave home? To venture so boldly out into the world?”

Taliyah hesitated. “I had too…” she said at length. “To protect my family.”

“Protect them?” he asked quizzically. “Did you offer them danger?”

“No!” she cried. “Well yes...but not intentionally! I have these powers you see, and back then I couldn’t control them. But now I can! Now they are not quite so wild. So that’s why I can finally head home!”

He spent a moment digesting that. “What kind of powers do you possess?”

Taliyah smiled. “I’m a stoneweaver!” she declared somewhat proudly. 

“Truly?” he said with a subtle trace of disbelief. “I had long believed that strain of magic extinct…” He chuckled softly to himself. “Even now, Shurima is still finding new ways to surprise me.”

“And what about you?” Taliyah asked. “What’s your tale?”

“My story?” he said. “I'm afraid young stone-weaver, it is one of much greater sorrows than your own. Filled with far more pain and woe than any one man should be forced to endure alone. But I shoulder them regardless. Such is my burden...my curse.”

Taliyah waited for him to continue, but he seemed to have become absorbed in a world of memories again. “Do you want to talk about it?” she prodded.

He didn't respond at first, merely shifting subtly beneath his cloak. He grunted and sighed. “Once, many moons ago, I was a man. Flesh and blood like you. I was kind and honest, despite my work. I was loving to my friends, and merciless to my enemies.”

“But now? Now I am but a mere shell of that man. Reduced to little more than a savage butcher. A killer...a murderer, who deserves neither the pity or kindness you show me now.”

The cold dread that had exuded from him reasserted itself as he fell silent. Taliyah had slowly overcome the feeling, but now his revelations had made her feel far less easy around him. But still she could sense that beneath the chill lay the heart of a decent and good man. 

She tilted her head to the side and examined him more closely. “You don’t seem quite so bad to me.” she said. “In fact I would almost call you quite friendly! Certainly very articulate. You’d certainly give my master a run for his money!” she said with a slight titter.

He seemed to brighten at that, giving a slight chuckle in response. But soon his mood fell dour again. “What you see before you now is but a glimpse of the man who once was. But soon this facade will be swallowed once again, and the truth will be laid bare and plain.” He sighed. “I thank you stone-weaver. For taking the time to talk with me. It has been so long since I last conversed with another, I had quite forgotten how gratifying the experience could be. I have missed it much indeed.”

“You’re very welcome!” Tlaiyahs said beaming. “So. What do you think you will do once you leave this place, and we part ways?”

He spent a long moment contemplating that question. “I am uncertain. I am not even entirely sure that it will be me who leaves this place…”

Taliyah stared at him quizzically. “You speak in strange riddles kind stranger. If not you, then who would be leaving this place today?”

He didn’t answer. His attention was fixed on the water, his eyes focusing intently on his reflection. He muttered something incoherently at the water. "I must find him." he said. "Brother...Nasus..."

A sudden deep throaty grunt escaped him, and a large scaled hand moved free of his robes to cover his face. He began to shake his head violently and began grunting even louder. 

“Whoa! Are you ok? Do you need-” Taliyah began.

“Run!” he barked. “Flee Stone-weaver. I am...I am slipping...”

Taliyah leapt to her feet. “Are you sure there's nothing I can-”

A loud roar escaped him and his head shook ever more violently. The cowl that had covered him slipped free. Beneath it lay the head of a crocodile mounted on the body of a man. His eyes were covered by his hand and they almost seemed to be clawing at them. He retracted his hand enough to look at her. Two green emeralds stared mournfully at her. “Run.” he whispered. He abruptly collapsed to the ground and began roaring furiously. Taliyah began backing off, picking up her boots as she edged backward.

The crocodile man shook savagely across the sand, as if he were trying to throw off some unseen assailant. Then in an instant he stopped. He reared up and sniffed at the air. His eyes were now gleaming gold. “I smell him.” he said. Gone was the articulate man, this was the speech of a beast. “His scent clings to you. Bring me to him!”

Taliyah kept edging backward. He growled. Standing back up, he produced from seemingly nowhere an enormous curved blade. “Bring me to him! Take me to that coward!” She was nearly at the edge of the oasis now, she could feel the desert heat prickling at her back. He growled even more deeply. Then in one sudden swift motion he leapt across the small body of water. “BRING ME NASUS!” he bellowed.

Taliyah yelped and dodged out into the dunes. She cast herself out to touch the stone beneath the sand and it rose to meet her. In one swift motion she turned herself around and surged away from the oasis atop the pillar of stone. She turned around to see the now not so friendly stranger barrelling after her, trying desperately to keep up. He tore free of the trees and cast up huge fountains of sand in his wake as he charged. But he was not fast enough. Even stampeding on all fours he could not hope to catch her. A loud yowl of fury echoed from him as he realised the truth of this.

Slowly but surely he began to fall further and further behind. “Nasus!” he yelled, his voice caught like a fading whisper on the wind. She watched him dwindle away into the hazy mirages of the desert and then vanish altogether as she crested over a tall dune. She didn’t know where she was heading, or even what direction the stone was taking her, but did not dare stop.

* * *

The moon's glow was low on the eastern sky when at last she allowed herself to rest. The mirages of the midday sun were gone, and the shadows of night were settling on the shifting sands in their place. She fell down onto the dune crest she had ended up upon and collapsed onto her back. She was exhausted. And her feet ached like nothing she had ever felt. She looked down and realised she had never put her shoes on. “That’s going to sting tomorrow.” she moaned to herself.

The stars began to twinkle on one by one above her. She stared at them for a long time, her mind blank and vacant. Then her thoughts came back to her, and the memories of the crocodile man. Taliyah felt a deep pity for him. He was a man, trapped in the skin of another. Caged in by someone more violent, someone more cruel, and clearly someone far more insane.

Her mind wheeled around for a long time, always returning to the feeling of fear and pity she felt towards the stranger. But after a time though her mind went blank again, her exhaustion draining her of the energy to contemplate him any further. The moon continued to rise out of the east. It had reached about a third of the way across the sky when Taliyah finally rose, and in silence, quietly glided off the top of the dune and off away into the quiet darkness of the desert night.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any feedback please feel free to share! I'm always looking to improve and see what works well!


End file.
